The Discovery of LSD use came from Albert Hoffman in 1938, when he was working with the rye Fungus Claviceps Purpurea, one of many fungi known as Ergot. Hoffman was working on synthesizing Ergot and Ergot Alkaloids to get various chemicals such as Ergoline and Ergine or Lysergic Acid (LSA) in search for medicine.
When working with Lysergic Acid and Diethlyamine, on the 25th compound, his lab was able to create Lysergic Acid Diethylamine, or LSD.
He didn’t know what he created until he accidentally made contact with the peculiar substance experiencing mild hallucinations. He later ingested a calculated dose, started feeling unwell, and went home via a bike ride on April 19, 1943 (due to some political restrictions limiting vehicle travel) resulting in an interesting psychedelic experience. This historic day was the mark of a discovery which is colloquially known as ‘Bicycle Day’ and later celebrated in the subsequent proliferation of LSD.
Ergot has been known to cause Psychotropic effects throughout time and is suspected of being the main culprit in the hysteria ensued by the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. People believe that the people of Salem may have ate Ergot contaminated Rye or Rye bread resulting in Ergotism which may cause psychotropic effects and hallucinations resulting in accusations and the subsequent Witch Trials.
Essentially the theory is that the villagers were tripping on an LSD analog and were seeing some crazy things, resulting in the wild accusations of Witches and the subsequent persecution.
So, in a way, LSD came from a specific type of magic mushroom -meaning LSD came from or was discovered through Fungi.
LSD can also be made without using mushrooms, so it’s not fungi specific. It is, however, notable that LSD did come from a discovery when working with Fungi. Most people wouldn’t consider Ergot to be a ‘magic mushroom’ because it doesn’t work the same as Psilocybe and is also generally toxic and very harmful to ingest.
Please, do not think of ingesting Ergot. Ergot has been known to cause Gangrene, make people sick, cause herpes zoster, among other things. It is highly ill advised to ingest Ergot as a fungus itself.
Ergot is also not something people should ingest without proper knowledge and guidance. Be warned.
For more information;
Here’s a nice report by Cayman Chemical that has some pretty and pretty good infographics that goes further into detail with LSD and Ergot.
Here is a link to the theory of Ergot and Salem Witch trials which was hypothesized in 1976.
With Gratitude,
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